Sweden counting on Sundin
But Leafs' captain wary about playing
against Canada
By Damien Cox
Toronto Star Sports Columnist
NAGANO - When he arrives today, Mats
Sundin will make like Clark Kent and
change his identity from being the
mild-manner leader of the Toronto Maple
Leafs into Super Swede - the man who will
lead his country against Canada at the
Nagano Olympics.
It will be a transformation that will
strike closer to Sundin's heart than you
might expect.
``It does feel funny,'' Sundin told The
Star recently. ``This is my eighth year in
Canada, and I probably feel as much
Canadian as Swedish. I consider Canada as
much my home as Sweden.
``I have a cottage in Sweden but the only
time I spend there is a couple of months
in the summer. Most of my friends are
Canadian or are over here right now, and
I'm still single so I'll probably find a
Canadian girl one of these years.
``It's going to feel a bit strange playing
against Canada. But it's going to be fun.
The United States is competitive, but you
look at Canada as the team to beat.''
Despite his mixed feelings of patriotism,
the chances of Sundin and his fellow
Swedes taking it easy against Team Canada
when the two countries meet at the Big Hat
in Nagano are non-existent.
This will be Sundin's first Olympic
experience - he has played in four world
championships, winning gold twice - and
one that comes four years after his
countrymen captured gold for the first
time ever in Lillehammer.
Citizens in both countries remember Peter
Forsberg's spectacular ``postage stamp''
goal in the shootout victory over Canada.
``It would be the biggest thing for
Swedish hockey to win, to know we can play
on the same level as Canada and the United
States,'' said Sundin. ``I know when we
won the world championship in 1991 it was
huge. We had 20,000 meet us at the
airport, and then on the highway into
Stockholm there were people lining the
road all the way.
``If we win this time we might not be able
to get back at all.''
The Maple Leaf captain will turn 27 on
Friday - a birthday shared with Canadian
downhill skier Kate Pace-Lindsay - the
same day the Swedes open defence of their
title against the Americans.
Like most Europeans, Sundin grew up
dreaming of Olympic gold more than NHL
glory. He vividly remembers the bronze
medal captured by the Swedes in Calgary 10
years ago, as well as the double-gold
exploits of Swedish cross-country skier
Gunde Svan at those same Games.
But with nearly 600 NHL games under his
belt, he admits his focus has been
altered.
``It would be great to win at the
Olympics, lots of fun, but I would
consider winning a Stanley Cup bigger,''
he said. ``If you had asked me after I'd
played one or two years here I would have
said winning the Olympics was equal to
winning the Stanley Cup.
``But learning about the NHL, and learning
how competitive the league is, and seeing
you've got to be fortunate to get on a
Stanley Cup-bound team, it's certainly a
prize that's tougher to reach.''
Sweden will have its share of prominent
athletes in Nagano, including slalom skier
Pernilla Wiberg and biathlete Magdalena
Forsberg. But with Sundin, Peter Forsberg,
Mikael Renberg and Nicklas Lidstrom on the
front lines, it will be the hockey team
that will be trying to make its biggest
statement yet on the world stage.
The Swedes have won seven Olympic medals
in hockey - one gold, two silver, four
bronze - but have never been a finalist in
any of the international tournaments that
have featured the world's best,
specifically the four Canada Cups and the
'96 World Cup.
At the World Cup, however, the Swedes took
Canada to overtime in a semifinal contest,
and Sundin delivered arguably the best
hockey of his career in the tournament.
``I think he will be one of our leaders.
We know he can play and the way he played
in the World Cup, we expect and hope he
will be in that form again,'' said
Lidstrom. ``He'll have a big role in the
locker room as well.''
While Washington Capitals veteran
blue-liner Calle Johansson will captain
the Swedish side, Sundin is clearly
expected to carry the offence despite the
fact Forsberg is a Hart Trophy candidate
this year.
``(Sundin) is a key player. He is one of
the guys who by himself can win a game,''
said Forsberg. ``He has done it before in
the World Cup and at world championships
and everybody is expecting him to do it
again.''
Sundin skated on a line during the World
Cup with New York Ranger winger Niklas
Sundstrom and Tampa Bay forward Mikael
Andersson, and it's expected head coach
Kent Forsberg will keep that unit intact.
The goaltending tandem of Tommy Salo and
former NHLer Tommy Soderstrom is suspect,
but the Swedes have tremendous talent and
playing on the larger international ice
surface should be an advantage for Sweden.
``I think we've got a shot to win,'' said
Sundin. ``I don't think we're going to be
favourites. I think the Canadians and the
Americans have more depth than we do. But
one game, in a quarterfinal or semifinal,
anything can happen, so we've definitely
got a shot.''
Sundin's parents, Gunilla and Tommy, will
journey to Nagano from their home in the
Stockholm suburb of Sollentuna to see
their son, who isn't worried the long trip
to and from Japan will leave him exhausted
by the time he returns to the Leafs'
lineup Feb. 25.
(
geocities.com/Colosseum)